FOR
YOUR EYES ONLY

One of the two great
Roger Moore/Bond
films, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY is also the most serious and low-tech
adventure in which Moore appeared. With a story that hearkens
back to the simple spies-chasing-a-McGuffin approach of FROM RUSSIA
WITH LOVE, it's a film that relies on good old-fashioned
thrills and
chases rather than outer-space battles and undersea villains'
lairs. The film's only glaring weakness is the dated and
overbearing disco-flavored score by Bill Conti. For the one
and
only time in his seven appearances as 007, Moore proved he could be a
tough-as-nails Bond when he tried. By the next film
(OCTOPUSSY),
he was back to the wisecracks and the arched eyebrow. - JL

Disco music aside, FOR YOUR
EYES ONLY had
several things going for it. Topol played one of the great
Bond
allies, there is a mountain climbing scene that is almost Hitchcockian
in its suspense, and Moore finally shows that when asked to be a tough,
no-nonsense Bond who will kick a guy's car off a cliff, he can do it
and do it well, though the quip "He had no head for heights" is
one of the lamest Bond wisecracks of all time. And kudos to
whoever decided to include the androgynously beautiful Sheena Easton in
the opening credits singing one of the last really good Bond theme
songs.

On the bad side (there's
always a bad side in
Roger Moore films), the plot of FOR EYES ONLY is nearly nonexistent,
and what is there seems to be interrupted every ten minutes for a
slapstick chase or two, although the gags are toned way down this time
around. Skating star Lynn-Holly Johnson is alternately
adorable
and annoying as a teen skating champion with the hots for Bond.
It sounds bad, but thankfully it works for the most part.
Roger Moore is the
only Bond who could pull off this kind of stuff as it plays to his
strength, light comedy. Sean Connery and Timothy Dalton would
have dropped a sleeping pill in her drink and ditched her. Daniel Craig would
probably put a bullet in her skull. ½ - JB